Three Days of Drama: Key Takeaways from 2025 F1 Pre-Season Testing

These days mark the most important sessions of the season for the tifosi, Ferrari fans. It is no surprise that they anxiously wait for Charles Leclerc’s reaction regarding the car. We saw an array of expressions from the Ferrari driver, both good and bad towards Fred Vasseur, Ferrari team principal, and the camera. But what is truly impressive is Leclerc’s statements after the final testing session. He talked about winning championships, regardless of the results of that session. Could this be the year Ferrari is back on top?

We saw a couple spins throughout these three days, but nothing major. However, there is one person who shouldn’t be spinning, Liam Lawson, who saw a couple of these throughout the three days, something he cannot afford. Helmut Marko, head of Red Bull Racing’s driver development program, declared earlier this year that Lawson had to figure out the car and remain close to his teammate and current world champion, Max Verstappen, who also suffered a spin during the last day of testing.

We saw a couple teams with secrets to hide. The first one, McLaren, the reigning constructors. Fluorescent paint was sprayed all over Lando Norris’s car during Day 1’s afternoon session. After a lap, Norris came back to the pits and we saw the papaya army assemble. A human barrier was created to hide secrets. The paint, most likely, showed the aerodynamics of the MCL-38. One photo of that would’ve been detrimental to McLaren.

We saw another human barrier form during Day 2’s afternoon session, but this time it was around Ollie Bearman’s car. It is unsure what they were hiding but the season will tell. During the morning session of Day 3, we did see a little secret from this team. The engine cover of the Haas car came off as Bearman was completing a lap. One could say that we saw the insides of the car, something Haas was not too happy about. Will this be the start of many issues for the American team?

We had three different drivers tops the charts at the end if each day, with McLaren driver, Lando Norris, topping day 1 with a time of 1:37:10, Williams driver, Carlos Sainz, topping day 2 with a lap time of 1:29.348, a time that would remain unbeaten for this year’s testing sessions, and George Russell lapping at 1:29.545 to wrap up this season’s testing sessions.